Joseph Spoke Publicly of His Impending Death
Joseph’s
private secretary, High Priest James Whitehead, stated that the Prophet made
inference to his forthcoming death at Nauvoo months before his martyrdom.
Whitehead declared:
.
. . Joseph the Martyr brought his son Joseph on the stand with him in Nauvoo at
the east end of the Temple, and after he had preached one of the grandest
discourses I ever heard him preach, he called Joseph [III] to his right hand—I
was as close to him as I am to that brother—he called him to his right hand,
and put one of his hands upon his head, and said:
“Brothers
and sisters, I am no longer your prophet; this is your prophet. I am going to
rest.” But we did not think he was going to be killed. But he knew. (Supplement
to Lamoni Gazette, Lamoni, Iowa, January 1888)
Testimonies that Joseph Prophesied of His Death
Brigham
Young’s Testimony. Brigham preached a sermon August 1, 1852, in Great Salt Lake
City in which he told of hearing Joseph prophesy that he would die before he
reached the age of forty. Young declared:
Though
he [Joseph Smith] had prophesied that he would not live to be forty years of
age, yet we all cherished hopes that that would be a false prophecy, and
we should keep him for ever with us; we thought our faith would outreach it,
but we were mistaken—he at last fell a martyr to his religion. (Journal of
Discourses 1 [Salt Lake City, Utah, 1854]: 364)
In
a sermon at Salt Lake City, May 6, 1877, Young referred to the same subject,
saying:
I
heard Joseph say many a time, “I shall not live until I am forty years of age.”
(ibid., 18:361)
Apostle
John Taylor Spoke of Joseph’s Tomb. In 1870 Apostle John Taylor
spoke of Joseph having “built a tomb for himself” in Nauvoo (see Journal of
Discourses 13:231).
In
1876 Apostle Taylor delivered a funeral sermon in Salt Lake City in which he
again referred to Joseph’s “tomb” at Nauvoo:
I
heard Joseph Smith say, at the time he was making a tomb at Nauvoo, that he
expected, when the time came when the grave would be rent asunder, that he
would arise . . . (ibid., 18:333)
Elder
John Brush’s Testimony. Elder John Brush, who lived in
Nauvoo during the days of Joseph Smith, told of an experience which confirmed
to him that the Prophet had prior knowledge of his early death. His biographers
wrote:
The
gift of tongues still seemed to be poured out upon Bro. Brush, and many were
strengthened by prophecy or exhortation in this manner. . . . One time when
Bro. Brush had gone to the prayer meeting of another ward he was moved upon to
speak in tongues, and the interpretation of the tongue was as follows: “Thus
saith the Lord, except the people of my church do better and more faithfully
keep my law, they shall be driven even from here, and Joseph their prophet
shall be taken.”
This
was a startling revelation to the Saints, as they could not know the hidden
workings of the minds of all. They could not believe that Joseph their prophet
could be taken, and they doubted the source of the tongue. Grieved to the heart
over the interpretation of the tongue, and unable to rest until he ascertained
the truth concerning it, Bro. Brush at last sent a man to Bro. Joseph, who,
after repeating it, asked him if the tongue was of the Lord. Bro. Joseph
replied, “Tell the brother to set his mind at rest. The tongue is too true; it
is of the Lord.” (Autumn Leaves 4 [Lamoni, Iowa, 1891]: 175)
Joseph Had His Sepulcher Built
Joseph
was so convinced that his life would soon be taken, that he set men to work
constructing a sepulcher to receive his body. He had the sepulcher built into
the side of the hill close to the Temple, which was at the time under
construction. The sepulcher was completed before Joseph and Hyrum were
murdered. (Richard Price and Pamela Price, Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy,
3 vols. [Independence, Miss.: Price Publishing Company, 2014], 2:222-24)
What is also important about the above is that such reminiscences show that Joseph did not believe that the Parousia would take place in 1890/91.
Further Reading: